JP Kenny has been appointed as engineering and management contractor for the Wave Hub project, currently being developed in the south west of the UK by the South West Regional Development Agency (RDA). The announcement, made today (17th November) brought to a close the tender process which saw 11 companies express an interest in the work with three being shortlisted.

Wave Hub will be an electrical 'socket' on the seabed connected to the UK National Grid via a subsea cable. With a capacity of up to 20MW, it will allow the pre-commercial testing of wave energy devices on a scale not seen before. Currently, four wave device developers are working with the RDA on the project, and it is anticipated that up to 30 devices could be deployed. Consents have already been obtained from the UK Government for the Wave Hub site.

An independent economic impact assessment, commissioned by the RDA, has shown that Wave Hub could create 1,800 jobs and £560 million in the UK economy over 25 years.

Commenting on the appointment, Stephen Peacock, the South West RDA's Executive Director of Enterprise and Innovation, said: "This is a great step forward for Wave Hub and puts the project back on track for deployment in 2010. We want South West England to lead the world in the development of marine renewable energy and we're delighted to have a company of J P Kenny's calibre on board."

J P Kenny will spend the next few months working on the concept designs for Wave Hub, progressing to detailed designs by May of next year. Wave Hub is expected to be installed and operational by 2010.